Category: Eschatology

Predict the Sunrise?

It’s unclear whether certain events in the Bible happened through miraculous intervention or by natural causes.   

I am not talking today about clear-cut miracles like Jesus turning water into wine. Rather, I’m talking about when people who do believe in miracles have a difference of opinion about whether a particular event in the Bible had natural or supernatural causes. Let’s look at one of these.

Today’s episode happened just before a key battle between the Israelites, led by David, and the Philistines. David received his marching orders from God:

 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army (2 Samuel 5:24)

There are two possible explanations for the sound of marching described here.

  1. God made a marching sound supernaturally to scare the daylights out of the Philistines.
  2. The rustling noise in the trees came from a normal gale wind which just happened to be at the right time and was noisy enough to provide a cover for the Israelites to stealthily advance on their enemies.

I used to think that there was an enormous difference between the two choices. But now I don’t think whether it’s #1 or #2 makes any difference. Why?

 Obviously, #1 describes a clear cut supernatural miracle. But now let’s look more closely at #2.

If a strong gale hit just when Israel’s enemies were ready to attack, was that a coincidence?  No, it was God who synchronized and directed the weather patterns so that that a gale would show up at the exact needed time.

There are no coincidences with God. Indeed, since God synchronizes all events, there’s not even such a thing as a random occurrence.  

We think we see unchanging laws of nature. But it is stunning to realize that these “laws” are only “laws” because Christ directly sustains them:

 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.    (Colossians 1:17)

So sometimes God is actively using his usual laws of nature to achieve his purposes, and at other times he overrides them to accomplish his will. Thus I see no difference between “natural” or “supernatural”: Either way, it’s still directed by God.    

Some folks think God set the universe to run like a timepiece and took his hands off. But what may appear to be a timepiece is sustained moment to moment by God!

Try this thought experiment: What if the time the sun will rise tomorrow were as unpredictable as exactly what the weather will be tomorrow?  Is the predictability of sunrises a “law of nature” that will never ever change — or is it what God has nicely set up and actively sustains for the time being? He did promise:

 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22)

For now, it suits God’s purposes of grace and mercy to keep the seasons consistent, allowing us to plan, to have agriculture, and to not face total famine and chaos. But it’s an error to assume that it will always be so.

Those who deny that God can sovereignly overrule his natural laws at his good pleasure are in for a big shock. We aren’t told all the details, but I take seriously that the Bible says that various laws of physics/astrophysics/astronomy will undergo major changes.

The earth will not endure as is forever.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” (Revelation 21:1).

We will get a revamped earth with new laws. We can only guess at exactly how these will work but something will never change: we will always have a good omnipotent loving God who is always working to achieve his purposes. Now and forever. He invites us to join in this now and forever adventure by believing in his son Jesus!

Secret Decoder Ring?

secret decoder ring

There are loads of passages in the Bible about the future. Lots of them are obscure or hard to understand, perhaps the most difficult being those in the book of Revelation. Since people have argued about the timing and meaning of Revelation’s details  for centuries, I am skeptical when someone says they have discovered exactly what these mysterious passages all mean. It sounds  like they have discovered  a secret decoder ring that decrypts the prophetic passages in the  Bible.

Today I will argue that Revelation gives us great encouragement in living our Christian lives, even if we can’t decode lots of the prophetic details.

Today let’s look at one passage with lots of mystery, the tale of  the two witnesses. These guys appear in Revelation 11:3-12. I’ll give more Scripture than I usually do in my posts:

 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”  They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.  They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.  Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified.  For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.  Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. (Revelation 11:3-12)

You can find many attempts to decode just who the two witnesses are. Are they  Moses and Elijah? Are they someone else ? And what in the world is the significance of 1,260 ?

So many theories ! But let’s look at what’s more important. We know that all scripture has something of use for us to live more fully for God today. So — How do the two witnesses affect how I live now?

Let me suggest three ways.

  • The two witnesses speak the truth in spite of opposition—- and God wants us to boldly, confidently speak the truth even when we face opposition.
  • The scorn of wicked people for the two witnesses ends. God sets it right. And here’s a promise : Later, God will set all wrongs right. We don’t know the timing, but God promises that evil will end.
  • The two murdered witnesses come alive. And, Jesus brings us back to life. First, we were dead in our sin and Jesus brought us back to spiritual life. And Jesus promises that sometime after we die, he will return and give us new, live resurrection bodies.

See, we don’t need a secret decoder ring for Revelation to be helpful.  Even though the details of the timing and sequencing of future events remain hidden, Revelation encourages us to live more fully for Christ today, and strengthens our hope that our Lord is fully in control of our future.